Gallery: Catch a Buzz for Science: Recording the Mysterious Calls of Summer Insects
01summer-sounds
They're the background sound of a deep summer day, a sonic shorthand for sunshine and ease: cricket chirps and katydid buzzes and grasshopper rattles, ever-present and seemingly endless. Yet for all their ubiquity, these creatures -- taxonomically grouped as [Orthoptera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthoptera), the calling insects -- are little appreciated. Bees are beloved for their industry, butterflies for their beauty and even ants for their social intricacy, but Orthoptera has few devotees. We hear them but don't know them. It's a blind spot that extends even to science, where Orthopteran species distributions and population trends are poorly described. Entomologist Sam Droege of the United States Geological Survey hopes you can change this. Using iNaturalist, an online citizen science platform, he's launched the [Atlas of North American Calling Insects](http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/atlas-of-north-american-calling-insects-pilot). Anyone with a smartphone and a [SoundCloud account](https://soundcloud.com/) can sign up to submit their Orthoptera observations, and it's not even necessary to photograph the insects. Just use your phone to record what you hear, send in the audio, and somebody will identify it. If enough people participate, they can turn the sound of summer into a valuable scientific resource. On the following pages, WIRED takes a look and gives a listen to some of Droege's calling insects. __Above:__ *Tettigidea lateralis* ---------------------- Also known as the black-sided pygmy grasshopper. *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/9428626767/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr*
02conocephalus
Conocephalus ------------ "I love coneheads," said Droege, giving the conversational name of the genus *Conocephalus*, which are also known as meadow katydids. "They're just silly-looking and incredibly noisy." Go into any eastern forest and you'll hear them calling constantly. "It's the sound of summer," Droege said. Loud as they are, the Atlas of North American Calling Insects doesn't yet have a recording of one. The audio below comes from *Neoconocephalus*, a related katydid genus. [#iframe: https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F103495981&show_artwork=false&secret_token=s-thAe7](100%x166)|||||| *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/7496918126/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr* Audio: [Sam Droege](http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/353692)/iNaturalist
03kill-free-collecting
Kill-Free Collecting -------------------- Enlisting the public's help in monitoring calling insects achieves something that institutional researchers, in an age of declining budgets, can't do on their own. Natural history museums, most with decades-old collections, also struggle with monitoring: Specimens were traditionally gathered, killed and pinned, but there's little appetite for old methods. "People don't like to kill things anymore," Droege said. "But with smartphones, people always have them. You can just say, 'What's that weird bug?' and pull out your phone, photograph it, and upload the sound right there. That's more appealing." *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/9448878694/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr*
04high-fidelity
High Fidelity ------------- For identifying calling insects, smartphone microphones are every bit as good as the field equipment Droege used to use. Recorded below is an as-yet-unidentified ground cricket; above is another as-yet-unidentified ground cricket, which Droege found near his office. [#iframe: https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F103494212&show_artwork=false&secret_token=s-CzDCX](100%x166)|||||| *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/9448878694/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr Audio: [Sam Droege](https://soundcloud.com/moltenblue/head-calling/s-thAe7), USGS*/Soundcloud
05hidden-in-plain-hearing
Hidden in Plain Hearing ----------------------- As loud as Orthopteran sounds -- produced by rubbing leg against leg, or leg against wing -- can be, they're also sonically difficult to pinpoint. You can hear a cricket easily, but finding it is another matter. This is likely an evolutionary adaptation to avoid predation, said Droege. Buzzes convey a general location to potential mates, but meeting is likely achieved by following pheromone signals detected with long, incredibly sensitive antennae. *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/7638493086/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr*
06camouflage
Camouflage ---------- Many Orthopterans are exquisitely camouflaged. "They are yummy to eat, so any bird would love to nab them," Droege said. To avoid notice, some — such as *Amblycorypha oblongifolia*, the oblong-winged katydid, seen above and heard below — look like leaves. Vegetation isn't always green, of course, leading to the multicolored camouflage of the meadow katydid below. [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2013/08/meadow_katydid_tricolor.jpg) [#iframe: https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F103182625&show_artwork=false&secret_token=s-t9L84](100%x166)|||||| *Images: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/9416488560/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr Audio: [cstragar](http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/350892)/iNaturalist*
07the-other-cicadas
The Other Cicadas ----------------- Though the [extraordinary life cycles of 13- and 17-year cicadas](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/strange-life-cycles/) get all the attention, there are many other members of their family. Above is *Tibicen tibicen*, which belong to a genus of cicadas that emerge every year in late summer and autumn, and are known for their rich calls. *Tibicen lyricen* can be heard below. [#iframe: https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F104027057&show_artwork=false&secret_token=s-SAQ48](100%x166)|||||| *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/7705911568/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr Audio: [lfelliott](http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/352533)/iNaturalist*
08naturalisms-new-wave-2
Naturalism's New Wave --------------------- The technologically mediated ability to quickly identify traditionally overlooked animals, in particular insects, has opened up new avenues for amateur naturalists, Droege said. Thanks to digital cameras and online communities like [BugGuide](http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740), it's possible to identify bugs like this Carolina grasshopper (above) as quickly as other, more recognizable animals. "It used to be that you had birdwatchers, because that was accessible and there were bird guides. Everything else was a specialty," Droege said. "What we're seeing now is groups of people doing naturalism at a major level. It's like the Victorian era." *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/9448811986/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr*
09syrbula-admirabilis
*Syrbula admirabilis* --------------------- Counting the calling insects isn't just about gathering data, but also a way of giving people a richer experience of nature. Just as learning to identify birds opens up a winged world, identifying insects provides a new perspective on life. "Once you realize there are all these different kinds of insects, you may not even remember the names, you parse the world differently," said Droege, who found this common *Syrbula admirabilis* grasshopper near his Beltsville, Maryland lab. The audio below comes from another *Syrbula* species. "Anyone can find them. None of these are rare. And once you start looking closely, there are all these beautiful details we tend to overlook." [#iframe: https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F103439607&show_artwork=false&secret_token=s-KqAMn](100%x166)|||||| *Image: [Sam Droege, USGS](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/9408081371/in/set-72157634942788136)/Flickr Audio: [lfelliott](http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/353025)/iNaturalist*
